


so this is why fire burns

by jadedinkwell



Category: The Little Mermaid (1989), The Little Mermaid - All Media Types
Genre: Disney, Fluff, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 00:27:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29849796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jadedinkwell/pseuds/jadedinkwell
Summary: one shot of ariel and eric, before the three days are over. short but sweet :) i don't own any of these characters. (oh yeah, and i imagined this with the live-action cast with halle as ariel!)
Relationships: Ariel & Eric (Disney)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	so this is why fire burns

If Ariel was ever going to find love, it was going to be here. She was sure of it.

It had been so long since anyone had done anything for her without wanting something in return, and now she sat in front of a boy who gave her all the attention in the world when she had nothing to give. In the light of the fire, Prince Eric’s gaze seemed to trace her as if she were a painting; a work of art worth displaying to the world. She wondered what he thought of her, with her red locs twisted away from her face and pinned up with pearls. Even in Atlantica, she had never felt so beautiful and so _comfortable_. As if he had read her mind, he smiled, a soft beam that made Ariel’s heart beat faster in her chest. He saw her for who she was. For so many years, Ariel had been nothing but a voice in an echo chamber. She was silent, but he heard her.

Ariel understood why her mother had loved it up here. She wondered if Athena had ever fallen like this for a human boy. They were so warm, so soft… nothing like some of the mermen she had met. She could never imagine being happy anywhere else. The human world had proven to be so kind to her in the few days she had been there, and she wanted so badly to believe that she would make it. Ariel knew she was safe here, lost in the eyes of this prince. She would always feel wanted by him. Gods, he was so patient with her. Just that night, they had been dancing, moving in a way that Ariel had only ever dreamed of. She was jealous of how easily Eric moved, steady and smoother than anything. Ariel had been clumsy, she knew, but she had made him smile. He picked her back up when she fell and continued to twirl her around the ballroom, looking at her as if she was the only girl he had ever seen. That was more than enough for her.

Ariel had never once been anything more than a voice to even most of her kingdom. They knew her for nothing but the sound she produced. What was she, if not a voice in Atlantica?

Here, with Eric, the answer was clearer than water. She was human now. She was home.


End file.
